Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

The Tigers announced today that the greatest pitcher in the game, and probably the greatest pitcher in the history of the franchise, would pitch the rest of the prime of his career in Detroit.

Anyone have a problem?

Most fans are thrilled with this news, as they should be. Verlander is a homegrown talent who has far exceeded even the highest expectations when the Tigers drafted him in the first round in 2004. He’s been an All-Star, an MVP, a Cy Young Award winner and he clearly is on track to go to the Hall of Fame. He’s a superstar in every sense of the word. And in a city that has seen it’s share, he has a chance to go down as the best we’ve ever seen, in any sport.

But there are some worriers out there who think that the Tigers overspent for a pitcher who just celebrated his 30th birthday on Feb. 20. Or they think that because Verlander’s post-season ERA is 4.22 that he somehow doesn’t justify the contract. These are the same people who questioned Steve Yzerman’s leadership prior to 1997 or thought that Barry Sanders was an incomplete back because he didn’t catch as many passes as Emmitt Smith.

There are no 100 percent locks in sports. Of course there’s a chance that Verlander will wear down as he heads into his 30s. And I certainly can’t forecast the future of the franchise when Mike Ilitch eventually stops running the team on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps the next owner will pinch pennies and start selling off parts. And maybe one day, Verlander’s contract will seem like a burden instead of a blessing.

But here’s my question: What chance are you willing to gamble on? You can either gamble on “the now” or “the then”. The now is a loaded roster in a weak division. The now is Verlander coupled with Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Max Scherzer, Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson to form the nucleus of one of the very best teams in baseball. True, they haven’t gotten over the top yet. But they enter 2013 with as good of a chance as anyone.

The now is also a ballpark that fills up every single night to the tune of three million fans per season. And the now is a business model that seems to do just fine despite the report in Forbes Magazine that the Tigers were one of five teams operating at a loss in 2012. If they’re operating at a loss, the man on top sure doesn’t seem to mind.

Or you can bet on “the then”. What is “the then”? Who will own the team after Ilitch? Will it be one of his kids or Dan Gilbert or someone else? Nobody knows. If you don’t know who’s going to own the team, how could you possibly forecast how that person is going to run the team? And regardless of who’s running the team, wouldn’t that man or woman want one of baseball’s greatest stars pitching in all the biggest games? Wouldn’t that person want to put a product on the field that will continue to contend for division titles and draw millions of fans per season?

We really don’t know about “the then”. And I suppose we really don’t know about “the now” either. Verlander could get hurt. So could Cabrera. The Royals or the Indians could rise faster than anyone expected them to. But when you have a World Series-ready team like the Tigers do, you have to do business like you intend to go after those titles for the foreseeable future. And today’s move further ensured that to be the course of action.

Verlander will pitch in this game for a long time. And his body shows no signs of breaking down. There’s a reason that he can crank it up to 100 miles per hour in the later innings. He’s a talented athlete with the drive to be great. This contract won’t satisfy him nor slow him down. He’s motivated by titles, by greatness and by a trip to Cooperstown. The Tigers made sure today that a player like that will pitch in front of you fans for the rest of his career.

Again, please tell me how that’s a bad thing?

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